integrated child protection system, components
and services are multi-disciplinary, cross-sec-
torial and inter-agency, and they work together
in a coherent manner. This is particularly
important for unaccompanied children who are
exposed to and move between numerous, often
competing systems and processes. An integrat-
ed child protection system enables refugee and
migrant children to be treated as ‘children first’,
encourages sharing of best practice in child
welfare and reduces the risk that public bodies
will fail to take responsibility for a child 12 .
Migrant. There is no consensus over the
definition of migrant. IOM defines ‘migrant’
as any person who is moving or has moved
across an international border or within a State
away from his/her habitual place of residence,
regardless of (1) the person’s legal status; (2)
whether the movement is voluntary or involun-
tary; (3) what the causes for the movement are;
or (4) what the length of the stay is. IOM con-
cerns itself with migrants and migration-related
issues and, in agreement with relevant States,
with migrants who are in need of international
migration services 13 . However, according to
UNHCR, migrants choose to move not because
of a direct threat of persecution or death, but
mainly to improve their lives by finding work,
or in some cases for education, family reunion,
or other reasons. Unlike refugees who cannot
safely return home, migrants face no such
impediment to return. If they choose to return
home, they will continue to receive the protec-
tion of their government.
“At UNHCR we say ‘refugees and migrants’ when
referring to movements of people by sea or in
other circumstances where we think both groups
may be present (…). We say ‘refugees’ when we
mean people fleeing war or persecution across an
international border. And we say ‘migrants’ when
we mean people moving for reasons not included
in the legal definition of a refugee” 14 .
Refugee. According to the Convention and
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, a
refugee is someone who has been forced to flee
his or her country because of being persecuted
for reasons of race, religion, nationality, mem-
bership of a particular social group or political
opinion 15 . Many States grant other forms of
international protection to people at risk be-
yond the definition in the Convention and more
broadly, the term “refugee” is used – including
in this publication – also to include people who,
if returned to their country of origin would face
a real risk of suffering serious harm. In EU leg-
islation, ‘serious harm’ is considered to include
death penalty or execution; torture or inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment; and
serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life
or person by reason of indiscriminate violence
in situations of international or internal armed
conflict.
Unaccompanied and separated children. Both
unaccompanied and separated children are
not accompanied by their parents or primary
caregivers. Separated children are children
who have not necessarily been separated
from other relatives or accompanying adults.
These may, therefore, include children ac-
companied by other adult family members 16 .
13 _ “Key Migration Terms”, IOM.
14 _ “UNHCR Viewpoint: ‘Refugee’ or ‘Migrant’ – Which Is Right?”, UNHCR, 11 July 2017,
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/latest/2016/7/55df0e556/unhcr-viewpoint-refugee-migrant-right.html.
15 _ Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951,
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/protection/basic/3b66c2aa10/convention-protocol-relating-status-refugees.html.
16 _ “UNHCR Viewpoint: ‘Refugee’ or ‘Migrant’ – Which Is Right?”, UNHCR, 11 July 2017,
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/latest/2016/7/55df0e556/unhcr-viewpoint-refugee-migrant-right.html.
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